Today, SAY YIASOU FOR TOST

When you are out eating and drinking in Greece, you can have the feeling that the wine just keeps on flowing.

Some tavernas store their own wine in barrels, and here you can order the wine by the carafe, it is relatively cheap and very easy to drink, and as the company eats and drinks, glasses are continuously being refilled and jugs are renewed.

When drinking with Greeks, you will find everyone will take turns at filling up glasses, if you are ready for a refill, you will fill up all your friends glasses first, before yours. You never fill a glass up to the top, and yet it is quite acceptable to fill your glass before it is empty.

Degoustation, Travellers!

A Wine tour of Greece ,17 - 24 Oct 2014 A ‘land-based’
Greek wine tour and the revised itinerary takes in Naoussa and other
great wine regions in Northern Greece, before proceeding to the
Peloponnese on a route that takes the visitor through stunning
countryside, past famous archaeological sites and to stay in beautiful
out of the way towns. Click here to edit text

Learn from the Past, wine lovers, the original wine past

Wine was always diluted with water before drinking in a vasecalled "kratiras,"derived from the Greek word krasis, meaning the mixture of wine and water.

The word Krasi is now currently used in the Greek language as the term for wine.

The Symposia The Ancient Greeks loved to organize intellectual gatherings called "symposia" where they would eat and talk about predetermined philosophical subjects while drinking wine.

While moderation was strictly adhered to, the Greeks would utilize the beneficial effects of wine to help achieve greater intellectual clarity and spiritual awareness.

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On the commerce's theme, wine wasn't popular for the way it was made, but for the region it was coming from.

The most popular wines were coming from the Aegan Island withLimnos, Paros, Samos and Rhodes.

Later on, the Greeks realized the important ecosystem influence on the term of wines,so they created their own Appellation of Origins. Because of that, a lot of wines started to be traded and very popular.

Some of the famous wines with the Appellation of Origins were:

Arioussos Oinos from Chios

Thasos from Northen Greece

Mendeous Oinos from Menden of Chalkidiki

As the Roman came into power , in the ancient world, the traded wines moved from the northen Aegan to the south and was concentrated on the island of Crete and Rhodes which was invaded by the Roman.

Aglianico, Greco di Tufo, Moscato are some of the grapes varieties that you could find in Italybut their origins are from Greece.

It was in the 1st Century, that the Cretan viticulture began.

The God of Wine

For the ancient Greeks the culture of wine was embodied in the deity,

Dionyssus

The son of Zeus and Semeli,

Dionyssus was one of the most worshiped of the Greek Gods inspiring artists, philosophers and the lives of everyday people.

the marble Head above is the original god , Singing or talking Dionysos.
Roman, marble.One of many copies of a Hellenistic original (270-250 BC) thought to be from the Athenian Sanctuary of Dionysos.Altes Museum, Berlin.

Write your message for your experience of the Greek wines , so Greek to me !

Hellenic wines’ hype by American sommeliers and all the world’s wine lovers

Greek producers, writes the latest WSJ article, have gained something Portuguese winemakers can only
dream of possessing: the hearts and minds of American sommeliers.

At Manhattan restaurant Boulud Sud, wine director Michael Madrigale
features several Hellenic whites by the glass because he believes they
fit the Mediterranean menu better and are more interesting than some
other, more-popular wines. For Pinot Grigio fans, for example, he
recommends the 2014 Santo Santorini Assyrtiko; for Sancerre lovers,
Alpha Estate’s Axia Malagouzia. Mr. Madrigale also features about 10 to
12 Greek whites by the bottle at Boulud Sud—all reasonably priced, from
$50 to $60 each, which, he said, makes it easy for people to experiment
with unknown wine.

Some wine professionals have become so
impassioned about the country’s wines they are opening restaurants with
entirely Greek lists. Evan Turner has been a sommelier in Houston and
New York and is scheduled to open a restaurant, Helen Greek Food and
Wine, in Houston in July. He plans an all-Greek wine list that includes
about 100 options, a number he plans to double in time. Findthatongreektomefan

Wines like Nectar

Greek God of Wine

Perhaps the most interesting element that shows us that wine had an
important place in Ancient

Greece is that there was a god, Dionysus, who
was completely devoted to wine and all its facets. He started appearing
in the culture when the Mycenaeans were at their most prominent.
Because of him, many wine festivals were held in his honor.

Ancient Wine Trade

The first evidence of wine trade also occurred during the time of the
Mycenaeans. At that time, they used clay vessels called amphoras to
store it. These vessels, which had been thought to have their roots in
Mycenae, were found in places like Cyprus, Egypt, Palestine, and Sicily.
Because of these findings, they concluded that this is where the wine
trade had its beginning. by the WorldwideGreeks, March 22, 2015

Greek wine
and wine making is as ancient as the marble columns that line the
Parthenon. Archaeologists have uncovered winemaking artifacts from
Greece that date as far back as 1600 BC, as the area played an enormous
role in wine trade.We can even credit the Greeks with establishing an
appellation system to ensure quality and place of origin.

Today’s Greek winemakers, with a nod to antiquity, are working to
bring Greek wine back into vogue. Updated winemaking technology blended
with the nation’s 300 indigenous grape varieties (some of them ancient)
has done much to elevate the modern-day perception of Greek viticulture.
The Greek climate is also a winning combination: ample sun, minimal
rainfall and abundant poor soilset the stage for some serious grape
growing.

Greek wine does appear to have it all—history, climate and uniqueness. It has one more thing: pronunciation. Learn why at the Forbes

Voil'a!.... The Drops of the Paradise

Greece's geographical structure, its climate together with the soil makes it look like a paradise. "In a paradise whatever you do...flourishes" says Yiannis Boutaris, Mair of Thessaloniki and owner of one of the successfull wineries of greek wine. Enjoy the travelling to the blessed wineof this land that adds joy, inspiration and years , ( still), to the lives of the ex-happy Greeks !

With its roots dating back some 6,500 years, Greece is one of the oldest wine producing regions in the world.Go to the Wine EnthusiastGuidefor the Greek Wines

It was here where wine was born, , and remember, Greeks drank wine in their water all day long!

Cultivating wine has been dated back to ancient civilizations as long
ago as 4500 BC.

Archeoloists have proof of wine production in ancient
Greece, Egypt, Rome, and China to name only a few areas of primal
production.

A medicine: Disinfectant, of Body and Soul

Hippocrates, the great physician of Antiquity (460-377BC), used to recommend wine
as a part of a healthy diet, advocated its use as a disinfectant for
wound. He also prescribed wine as a cure for lethargy during the
childbirth.

On the other hand, we hadPlato, who considered that the wine had a cure for austerity of old age...

. Around the 8th Century BC, Greece had some colonies in Italy and Sicily, they would introduced wine making techniques to them and later on in France and Spain

Among them Socrates, who, as he was a wine-lover, when his turn to act as "symposiarhos", he loved to propose"Samos" wine, since it was his favorite.(Bibliography : “O Kyrios mou Alciviades”, written by the servant of the Athenean general and politician Alciviades, who was a Socrates student and admirer).

The symposiums at Percicles house - the governor of Athens to built Parthenon during his “Golden Era” -

(The one and only era in the history of the human kind without corruption), are famous for the greatest of the philosophers, poets and artists to gather.

Modern science proofing the knowledge of the ancient Greeksfor the healing effect of the wine

Polyphenols, include resveratrol. This antioxidant helps to decrease inflammation. Decreasing inflammation in the body will help to minimize aging and battle disease. It has been said that consuming just one glass of red wine a day for women and two glasses a day for men has been proven to provide a variety of benefits for your heart. It can help decrease plaque build up if you have high cholesterol, which can in turn lower your risk of heart attack. Resveratol also helps to bring blood and oxygen to your skin.MORE by habitudefitness.com/

While it appears the tastes and additives
of wine have drastically changed, the purpose behind creating and
consuming wine has also transformed.Once upon a time, wine was made
because ancient water purification systems were very poor. People drank
wine all of the time, mixing it with water, not to get drunk, but
rather to survive

..

Wine Celebrations in Ancient Greece, to gods, and senses

“In 1999, a Turkish university compared the antioxidant benefits of red
wine, grape juice and white wine. The Ankara University researchers
found that, while red wine and red grape juice contained higher levels
of antioxidants, the protection of cells from oxidation was not
significantly greater than the effects of white wine

. Studies analyzing
white wine’s effects on particular diseases have found that its
antioxidant content is effective for preventing lung disease and breast
cancer. In 2002, researchers at the University at Buffalo School of
Medicine found that moderate lifelong white wine consumption improves
lung health. In 2010 University of Wisconsin researchers found that
white wine protects cells from breast cancer equally well compared with
red wine. The grape itself also contains nutrients and antioxidants, so
white wine, while not as healthy as red, is still considered a healthy
beverage.” -Livestrong.com

A celebration of wine known as "Anthestiria" or "the festival of flowers" was popular and probably derived its name from the fact that ancient Greek wines were famous for their flower aromas. The Anthestiria took place in February when the jars of fermenting wine were ready to open.

Another popular event wasthe grand celebration known as "Dionyssia"that took place in Athens every March. In addition to welcoming the spring season Dionyssia is also thought to have followed in the Babylonian tradition of celebrating the New Year in March.

The remarkable theater of Dionyssus located below the Parthenon is a clear testament to the strong influence of this God in the every day life of the Greeks.

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